. >> right now we are facing a fiscal cliff. last year we were facing the debt ceiling. before that, we were looking at several potential government shutdowns. at a different level, the appropriations process has not worked as intended for years. neither has the budget process. it seems like abnormal is the normal. that type of activity in this situation where we are already looking ahead to the next potential showdown, as he suggested, with the next debt ceiling altercation, this creates uncertainty, which is not good for the private sector and certainly is not good for the federal government in terms of its ability to function in a normal way. how can congress break out of this? >> do what we are hired to do and to appropriations in a timely manner. in maryland, we have a lot of defense contractors very concerned about sequester. many of them say, warner, warner, a nuisance and-bowles. -- do simpson-bowles. everyone supports it, but no one has read it. but the top line numbers are almost the same -- next time you do a default, do not make it so awful. putting a gun to